“It’s one of those dumb days where nothing’s really wrong but nothing’s really right either and the sky can’t even choose to be white or gray.”

–

Andrea Portes

=====================================

“Nothing” days.

Its hard to believe with all that shit we always seem to have to do and all the shit that seems to be happening around us and all the shit society, people and culture claims we are demanded to pay attention to … there can be nothing days.

The dumb days in which nothing happens <albeit lots of somethings actually happen>.

I think this is one of those things I didn’t think about until I actually thought about it — how can a day be nothing when you actually did a shitload?

Sure.

There are some people who get busy doing nothing <I actually call this ‘the art of looking busy’ and have a piece on his coming up>.

But the majority of us do a shitload of something on the days which we tend to view as having done nothing.

And I am not sure that is particularly healthy.

You can surely assess what you have done and apply some value less than what you wished you could assess … but even that “lesser value” is not zero, therefore, it is not nothing.

Personally I think this happens because the majority of us have a natural resistance to nothing. What I mean by that is being associated with “nothing”, particularly in a country that extols doing, creates some sense of diminishing or diminished.

And no one likes to feel either diminished or having whatever we actually did do be diminished to … well … nothing.

Anyway.

What that means is we will apologize for ‘nothing’ with a variety of reasons – distracted, bored, tired, etc. – because in the end our internal integrity compass wants to point toward something to make us happy.

In fact … someone created something called the Nothing Day which has been commemorated since 1973. The day is literally about doing nothing at all. There is absolutely no purpose or intended structure for this pointless celebration.

My point isn’t that we should celebrate nothing or doing nothing or even the feeling we actually did nothing but rather that we see “nothing” where there really is something.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

This is even making my head hurt.

Let me try this.

Far too often we fall into an all or nothing assessment with regard to our day. What that means is we could actually do a shitload but if it doesn’t meet some “something” standard it then falls to a 100% nothing value.

That is nuts.

==============

“Either I reigned supreme or sank into the abyss.”

–

Simone de Beauvoir

==============

And I can honestly say its nuts because I do it. I can reach the end of a day with a long list of shit I have done and sit back and say “shit, I did nothing.”

And I don’t think I am that different than a lot of people.

I could speculate why we do it but I will not.

Mostly it is because we think, think & think about the shit … and overthink it … and it is a death trap.

Mostly I think society & culture seems to put an extraordinary amount of value on tangible recognizable outcomes therefore if you just do shit … but the shit doesn’t offer some trophy outcome you can hold up for everyone to see than … well … we think we have nothing to show for it. That is also a death trap.

That’s dumb.

Not only is that dumb it is the foundation for one of those dumb days where nothing’s really wrong but nothing’s really right either and the sky can’t even choose to be white or gray type feeling … which is a pretty dumb feeling to have.

All I can say is that the next time you think it is one of those dumb days where you did nothing … maybe stop overthinking and make it a simple thought — I did some shit today. I will do more shit tomorrow. And eventually some good shit will happen.

“Shut the fuck up … don’t ever compliment me by insulting other women. That’s not a compliment; it’s a competition none of us agreed to.”

—

(via aussie-with-glasses)

==============

Ok.

This isn’t about society & women & standards <although I have written many times on that topic> this is about competitions we don’t agree to.

Many of us can go through life doing the best we can trying to get along and, in general, view most things in life as a journey and not some race and … well … sometimes people, things and society have a different view.

What this means is you are demanded to compete in some competition you really never agreed to.

Let me explain.

There are absolutely a bunch of people out there who define themselves by competition.

They seek to find validation & actualization through some comparison versus what others are doing <this, basically, is competition>.

And then there are people like me <I do not know how many there are of us but I imagine it is a fairly significant %>. While I like winning and, on occasion, a good competition gets the heart rate up and ‘ups my game’ the majority of the time I don’t view Life when I wake up and go to work as a competition with anyone and anything but myself.

I simply want to do good things, epic shit of possible, do the best I can and better than I did yesterday. I guess my competition is yesterday … not other people.

That said. I am not naïve. I know that everyday I wake up and go to work I am entering into ‘the Thunderdome’ and entering into some competition that I didn’t really agree to.

=========

“Life doesn’t get easier or more forgiving, we get stronger and more resilient.”

—

Steve Maraboli

============

I don’t like it.

But I recognize it.

And, as often as I can, I avoid the competitions I don’t agree to.

By the way … if you google “how to deal with competitions you do not agree to” you will get zilch, zero, no results on that topic.

None.

Ponder that for a second.

All that said.

This does mean that you receive compliments as well as criticisms based on competitions you didn’t agree to.

And that is aggravating.

It is like you are being judged by the Race Walking Olympic judges, with scores you don’t really care about, because you were just out jogging that day.

Day in and day out people who really do not want to compete, other than with their own standards, are faced with having to accommodate competition they didn’t agree to.

What a fucking pain in the ass.

And … I would point out … it sounds incredibly inefficient and time wasting.

Look.

I am not suggesting some competition isn’t bad. I am suggesting that we go fucking overboard with regard to ‘forcing competition’ into all threads of Life & society & culture.

I do believe it is healthy for young people to understand that in competition some people win and some people lose and that some people get trophies and not everyone gets one <although getting a trophy is not all there is to success & Life>.

I do believe it is healthy in youth to understand that some people are smarter than others, that some have skills you don’t have and that some people more easily learn some things than you do.

I do believe it is healthy for young people to learn how to compete and that competition can be healthy.

But at some point I think it would be good for society & culture to either turn that switch off or maybe learn how to turn on the dimmer switch because I think part of being an adult is knowing what you are good at and what you may not be good at and deciding for yourself <some would call that personal responsibility> how you want to achieve the best version of yourself.

I am not convinced that society, and business, creating some false versions of competition which almost encourages me to compete in some competition I really didn’t agree to, let alone really want to compete, is a good thing.

I tend to believe people like me think our competition is harsher and more challenging than any competition society can create for me and because of that I tend to want to dismiss outside competitions.

Yeah.

That choice is fraught with peril.

Suffice it to say … just knowing that there is peril in not wanting to compete in some competition I didn’t even agree to is aggravating.

This is a longish rambling post on about living Life <written mostly because I had a shitload of awesome quotes to use>.

And … well … not backing away from Life.

Okay.

Maybe it is about living Life in a weird way … being undead <kind of a gray area in living Life>.

And, no, this is not about regrets … or having regrets.

This is more about how we sometimes subconsciously back away from life.

====

“If you’re not busy being born, you’re busy dying.”

—

Bob Dylan

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And, consequently, it is also all about the importance of seeking to continuously reinvent ourselves while … well … mostly we are actually just going through the motions <it’s a version of living Life by being dead>.

It is, unfortunately, human nature that we are constantly distracted by what we have accomplished, completed, succeeded at … or failed at.

It is a major distraction for one of two reasons:

You purposefully seek to replicate what you have done in the past

You purposefully seek to break away, and break new ground, from what you have done in the past

Basically this suggests you are not really living Life … just constantly looking in the rear view mirror trying to make sure you replicate the good and avoid the bad.

Well.

I will point out … that would be the past good and the past bad.

It’s kind of like defining your usefulness and worthiness not by actually living your Life to its fullest but rather by measuring it in increments versus the past.

Well.

While some people may call it ‘incremental living‘, to me, that is ‘being dead’ … you are basically backing away from Life.

Eckhart Tolle <who in general I think is a philosophical nutcake> said … the secret of life is to “die before you die” – and find there is no death.

<that always made my head hurt if I thought about it too much>

I am not really sure what the hell he is talking about but what I do know is that while we may not consciously back away from Life and living … we certainly settle for a shitload of incremental maneuvering under the guise of “this is what it is going to take so that one day I will make it.”

Whew.

Talk about sucking the life out of life.

That’s not living … that’s just being dead before you have actually died <in my eyes>.

If you develop such a mindset, no matter what you achieve or get … the present will never be good enough and the future will always appear better.

This is a perfect recipe for permanent dissatisfaction.

It is kind of like a ‘waiting state of mind’ although I could argue that is “people like being dead.”

Basically it means that you want the future but you don’t want the present.

You don’t want what you’ve got and you want what you haven’t got.

I mentioning a ‘waiting state of mind’ because with every kind of waiting you unconsciously create inner conflict between here and now, where you don’t want to be, and the projected future – where you want to be. This greatly reduces the quality of your life by losing or sacrificing the present.

All that philosophical mumbo jumbo aside and let me just say … well … “for some the most difficult thing in life is knowing what they are surviving for.”

It is true some people just don’t live life.

They are just surviving <albeit … it is actually ‘being dead’>.

The problem is they even forget why they are surviving. Most people inevitably fall into a rut and in that rut they confuse living Life & survival with purpose … mostly because they are constantly looking backwards trying to move forward incrementally better than what they had done before.

Survival, to me, at its most valuable self-core is about purpose.

Regardless.

For once I will go with the crazy pop culture bullshit and say “why we don’t have more discussion on purpose driven life?”

We sure as hell do it with business <which I think is crazy>.

To be clear … purpose doesn’t have to be religious.

I think we don’t because it is tough. I am fairly sure it is not even anything tangible and it it sure as hell will not be found in any book or “chicken soup for the soul” type thinking.

Unfortunately it’s not really about “things” … like being ecofriendly or fighting poverty. Or even making sure your kids have it better than you do. Or doing anything actually <those are simply reflections or outcomes of attitude>.

That means if what I am writing is true then there is no measurement or none of the easy status comparisons <who has more stuff or more success>.

This mean the only measurement is good versus bad, the dark side and the lighter side of moments, and the inevitable task Life then demands of us — to find meanings in the moments.

I imagine I could point out here that each moment has value … if you look hard enough. But that is hard to find so people end up creating meaningful Life moments in a variety of ways — some good & some bad, some healthy & some unhealthy.

But if you are busy being dead <or, conversely, just not being undead> that kind of means you don’t really know how to enjoy life, or the moments within it, so you either end up by finding meaning in <a> incremental improvements versus the past – replicating good, avoiding the bad, or <b> creating closure moments – fake closure.

I could point out here that ‘death’, or being dead, is one way we seek to find meaning. “Live life like you are dying” or “want to do something before I die” or anything like that.

I imagine we will use any tool in the Life toolbox to try and create some comparisons to judge how well we are doing or not doing <that is called “assessing the value in our Life”>.

Just think about that a little … an how much that sucks.

Suffice it to say that people find value in Life in a variety of creative ways … mostly because they can’t seem to find value in purpose. Purpose is simple yet complex in the innate knowledge of people’s fear, hopes and desires in life combined with desire to ‘do something’ … whew … try measuring or judging that on a weekly basis.

=========

Had I not known

that I was dead

already

I would have mourned

my loss of life.

—-

Ota Dokan <his last words>

==========

“As a well-spent day brings happy sleep, so life well used brings happy death. “

–

Leonardo da Vinci

=========

Anyway.

I do believe people would be a shitload happier if they could stop thinking of our way of life, capitalism driven culture, as a … well … way of life … but rather maybe think about Life as a way of living in which capitalism is just one part.

I do believe people would benefit if we understand that we humans are egoistic … we like things & we like to feel good about ourselves & we actually like to do some good in the bigger picture.

I do believe people would be happier if they understood that we always will struggle to get the best for our selves <emotionally and tangibly>.

===============

“Many people die with their music still in them. Too often it is because they are always getting ready to live … before they know it … time runs out.”

–

Oliver Wendell Holmes

======================

I do believe people would be happier to look forward a little more often and worry a little bit less about ‘replicating good shit I have done in the past and avoiding the bad shit I did in the past’ <mostly because most of us don’t need a guidebook for what to do in the present if we just try and do our best – which is most likely representative of all our experiences up to that point>.

Anyway.

Being dead and being undead. I truly don’t think most people live dead lives … it’s just that they back away from Life a little too much.

That said.

Here is what I know about Life and death.

Life does not stop at death.

Of course it doesn’t.

Someone is not dead until they are forgotten. So maybe we should all worry a little less about replicating & avoiding and just try and do shit that matters when it matters.

===================

“No one is actually dead until the ripples they cause in the world die away…”

“And this I believe: that the free, exploring mind of the individual human is the most valuable thing in the world. And this I would fight for: the freedom of the mind to take any direction it wishes, undirected.

And this I must fight against: any idea, religion, or government which limits or destroys the individual.

This is what I am and what I am about.”

——

John Steinbeck

=============

“when you follow two separate chains of thought you will find some point of intersection which should approximate to the truth.

–

Sherlock Holmes

========================

“Once to every person and nation come the moment to decide. In the conflict of truth with falsehood, for the good or evil side.”

—-

James Russell Lowell

============

“It takes courage to lead a life. Any life.”

—–

Erica Jong

================

Well.

Booing someone rather than debating is cowardly. It’s cowardly because that means you, not them, does not have the courage to defend your idea and thinking.

Okay.

Maybe cowardly is too harsh. It is definitely lazy and often cloaked in a multi layered cloth of frustration, anger & emotion.

Suffice it to say … both debating & thinking takes some courage in that it forces you to face some things that maybe you do not want to face <and change how and what you think>.

But debating takes even more courage because ideas, when let out into the open, are pretty helpless. They cannot live without some protection. This means whether you feel courageous or not, whether you feel competent in expressing your ideas let alone defending your ideas, you step up to the plate and take some swings.

The cowardly way is to simply sit back and enjoy the comfort of the unsaid opinion & idea.

Okay.

It is even more cowardly to simply boo or shout down someone who not only wants to share their thinking & ideas but one who is willing to listen, debate & discuss your ideas and thinking.

It is even slightly cowardly to simply rely on ‘groupthink’ <which, by the way, is different than being a sheep and following the crowd>.

Anyway.

I had the fortune to go to graduate school with a case study driven curriculum.

We didn’t follow some syllabus with textbooks and lesson plans … we debated business cases. We quickly learned that cause & effect is rare, solutions are rarely simple and that “one right answer” was the rarest animal of all.

But this was learned by listening and debating and discussing <with some random shouting included>.

We quickly discovered that the glib one-liners <or tweets> actually made little ripple on the surface of the discussion.

Words were demanded by the idea itself to ‘lead’. That means you were demanded to deliver words being in front of your idea, pointing to a direction, saying ‘this way’ and using words to step out into the unknown of a debate in which you knew, at best, your idea was but one of the ‘right answers & solutions.’

You find out quickly … too quickly in fact … theory, it seems, is always easier than practice.

And that is what an idea that remains in your head unspoken is … simply a theory.

If it cannot stand the gauntlet of debate & discussion it remains simply a theory <or opinion> you have and will never go into practice. I believe it was Harry Eckstein <Case Study and Theory in Political Science 1975> who stated that case studies “are valuable at all stages of the theory-building process, but most valuable at that stage of theory building where least value is generally attached to them: the stage at which candidate theories are tested.”

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“Censorship is an almost irresistible impulse when you know you are right.

But when we look back at all that used to be seen as the truth, we know that we must keep a free market of ideas open.

The best test of truth is the ability to get accepted in the market.”

–

Oliver Wendell Holmes Supreme Court Justice

==============

Freedom of the mind to go in any direction is one of the greatest gifts humankind has been given.

Booing is actually the cowardly form of censorship of ideas … a lazy way of curbing the freedom of the mind.

And, maybe worse, booing someone is a cowardly way of actually caging the mind from exploring new directions.

I will admit.

Booing and shouting someone down and not listening seems weird to me. Weird in that half the battle in Life is simply showing up. So you have shown up <which puts you ahead of a shitload of people> and then you choose to simply show dissatisfaction and offer no solutions … or listen to offered solutions.

Yeah.

I know what I am suggesting isn’t always easy. And that is where courage steps in.

Freedom of mind means leaving what you think behind for a while. It doesn’t mean you can’t ‘come home’ again … but

We live in a weird world these days … alternatively dominated by groupthink and, alternatively, individual opinions are as important as facts, it is a weird world in which feelings seem more important that facts.

In this weird world of ours it is becoming almost impossible to stand against what feels like and inevitable tide and when you do try you can expect a strong wave of cynicism, sarcasm & … well … screaming.

In this weird world of ours if you truly do think for yourself and break free of the herd to think independently about a subject of great importance to you and to the greater world you are demanded to do something other than ‘boo’ or show up and shout.

Okay.

That last one isn’t weird.

In fact.

It is what normal people do with good normal ideas when they disagree with someone who has an idea you may not agree with.

Regardless.

I imagine it takes some moral courage to not just boo. And you have to have some courage to understand that it is less important whether you are right or wrong … what matters is that you stand up and challenged what you most likely see as misguided institutionalized groupthink.

=====================

“I realize that if you ask people to account for facts they usually spend more time finding reasons for them than finding out whether they are true.

They skip over facts but carefully deduce inferences.

They normally begin thus: “how does this come about?”

But does it so?

That is what they ought to be asking.”

–

Montaigne

===============

Sigh.

So.

I don’t agree with many things going in in the world today and I certainly don’t agree with many things the Trump administration is suggesting they will do.

But if I am going to express my discomfort in their ideas I want to hear their discomfort in my ideas. And while I am under no illusion that we will end up comfortable in some place … I do find comfort in the belief the discourse is more likely to produce a good result then simply shouting or booing.

=================

Too often we enjoy the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought.

John F. Kennedy

=============

Look.

I love the fact that people are showing up and speaking out.

And I absolutely understand that many of us are scared to have the debate & discussion because we fear losing that discussion and there is a shitload at risk.

And I absolutely understand that “there are few things more destructive than an unsound idea persuasively expressed” <Bill Bernbach>.

So you know what?

Keep showing up.

Keep expressing your discomfort with ideas you are hearing.

But find a spokesperson.

Find someone you trust to express your ideas & your thinking better than you can. And have that person open the debate. Words matter and words used well matter.

Shouting is not only cowardly but, even worse, it cheats words from being able to matter.

Shouting and booing is almost as destructive to a good idea as silence.

Please.

Please stop shouting.

Please.

Please stop booing.

Please.

Please stop not … well … not talking.

The only way out of the weird place it seems like the world is in these days is to talk our way out of it <and beget some doing we can agree on>.

Booing & shouting is not only not productive it is only going to hurt our ears as it only echoes in the hole we are all in … and doesn’t offer us any way out of the fucking hole.

The only way out of any hole is to embrace our god-given gift of the freedom of the mind to take any direction it wishes, undirected.

Just be sure your advertising is saying something with substance, something that will inform and serve the consumer, and be sure you’re saying it like it’s never been said before.”

=

David Ogilvy

———————

“If you try to comprehend air before breathing it, you will die.”

=

Mark Nepo

—————

“Seeking truth is a full time job. Communicating truth is a purpose in Life.

Embrace that truth and your Life will be significantly more complicated, but significantly more rewarding.”

=

Bruce McTague

——————–

Well.

Communicating has always been a tough gig but in today’s world it has taken on an increased challenge.

I scan headlines in magazines and online and I cannot see one topic being discussed, one industry or any one group of influential type people that isn’t under attack by ‘lack of trust’ or, in other words, ‘liars.’

What that means is anything you are communicating isn’t starting from a commodity standpoint <all facts and truths are created equal> but rather you are already in a hole trying to climb out of ‘prove to me this is not a lie.’

Truth has never had a more difficult challenge than today. This may sound odd because common sense suggests truth is truth and, unvarnished, stands clear of any and all clutter as … well … truth.

Unfortunately that is not … well … true.

Truth, more often than not, is a wallflower and not the one breakdancing in the middle of the room. The schlub doing the crazy dance alone, being watched by everyone, is more likely a lie or a semi/partial truth. You have to coax truth to the dance floor. Someone has to bring it out into the audience and permit it to be seen.

Truth telling is hard work. It is not for the faint of heart. Seeking truth is a full time job <which most people, frankly, just do not have the time to do as they do their paid full time job>. And communicating truth has to be a purpose in one’s life in order to meet the onslaught of untruths, purposeful ignorance, unintended ignorance, semi-truths and … well … cynicism.

To be clear.

I do not believe we are in some ‘post truth world.’ Nor do I believe what someone said “there are no facts anymore.”

Facts are facts and truth is truth.

There may be some confusion around this but … of all industries … advertising and marketing communications people had sure as shit better be fucking clear on this … or they are in deep shit.

Anyone in the professional communications business had better be absolutely fucking clear that communicating today ain’t like communicating yesterday … or they are in deep shit.

While I believe business, in general, benefits if they start on day one embracing the thought they are in the decommoditization business <rather than in the ‘uniqueness business’> I believe communications would benefit by embracing the thought they are in the ‘establishing truths’ business.

Look <part 1>.

Advertising, marketing and all of professional communications is in a challenging position. Challenging in that businesses spend money on marketing & advertising most typically to sell shit. Therefore its main goal is to … well … sell shit.

This means that if I represent a product and its main buying audience is white, male & blue collar <or pick any demographically based segment> … I am going to use imagery and words that will appeal to them <sometimes to the detriment to other audiences who are less likely to buy your shit>.

Now.

Of course you want to do it with style and substance and some sense of responsibility <not be stupid>. So any advertising person with any chops <any good> will figure out a way of not doing the stupid shit to sell shit. Even then … your audience is your audience and while we would like to suggest everything is made to be created with a larger purpose of ‘bettering the world’ … to a business who only has maybe $1000 to market something <or some finite budget amount> that $1000 is spent on selling shit and not ‘bettering the world.’

Simplistically … you sell to the people who will buy or have bought.

Simplistically … you sell to those people who will buy in the most effective way so that they will actually buy.

I say that because someone on the outside looking in can take apart imagery & words and make some very valid points with regard to the kinds of messages they send … but marketing people & advertising people are under a lot of pressure to sell shit. And, remember, they are in the service business … they ultimately do not do anything but ‘strategically create persuasive creations’… and a business makes the decision on whether what they create will actually be produced and put in front of people. And here is where the communications folk can get a little sideways. They focus on imagery & words & ‘attention’ with the intent to gain interest … not specifically sell shit. And they ignore truth as … well … too complicated & too complex. And it is quite possible we communications folk may have gotten away with that in the past, but in today’s world, sure as shit, you better be grounded in hard, clear truth or you are gonna get screwed.

Look <part 2>.

In the good ole days … truth was appreciated, but aspirational sold.

Well.

That was before we all got a good dose of cynicism and started drinking from the fountain of untruths.

Messages are everywhere and simply suggesting you were offering truth because “you’re too clever to fall for manipulation” gave people permission to at least think you were offering truth.

No more my friends.

While aspirational drives value, lack of truth suffocates value into nothingness. This doesn’t mean there will not be a boatload of products and services who make a sale standing on the superficial surface of irrelevant, but appealing, value. But that will be the geography populated by the hacks.

This truth thing may not be a battle which some people want to fight. And that is okay. But someone has to or the entire industry will become … well … irrelevant. If no one tells the truth then why would I listen to anyone.

I, personally, am not suggesting ditching aspirational but I am suggesting that truth, communicating the truth in a away that people actually believe it is true, is the key to future success.

Look <part 3>

I have worked in and out of the marketing and advertising business for <yikes> over 30 years so I feel like I have some qualifications to comment on the industry. Everyone on the outside of the advertising business looking in thinks those creating the advertising think about shit that … well … truthfully … advertising people actually never waste their time thinking about.

And everyone inside the advertising business thinks about more shit than people outside the advertising could ever imagine they think about.

Suffice it to say I could gather up examples of advertising using material over 20 years and make pretty much any point I want to make – good, bad, absurd, true, untrue, semitruthful, smart, insightful or blatantly uninsightful.

Anyway.

Here is a communications truth — perception is not reality. The perception is that advertising makes shit up, makes stupid vapid shit and says nothing <as much as possible> and if they do say something it is a lie and, ultimately, they try and make people feel something <to sell>.

Nothing could be further from the truth <that is, of course, with the non hacks>.

The problem in advertising typically arises when the ad creators struggle to articulate the benefit <or convince themselves that it is ‘non differentiating’ and then seek to ‘differentiate’ in some form or fashion>. It then can unravel from there because the ‘go-to’ phrase at this point in time is ‘do something brave’ … or ‘entertaining’ or ‘edgy’ <notice nowhere in there is “smart, insightful, thoughtful, truth”>.

Sure.

Great advertising messaging always is, and will be, imbued with some sense of courage.

Why?

Because if you want to be distinct you will not please everyone.

Because if you want to tell the truth you will not please everyone.

The hack advertising people use the ‘do something brave’ phrase indiscriminately to justify bad advertising.

The good advertising people use this phrase to do something smart in order to not be different but stand ABOVE everyone else.

Yup.

Huge difference.

Hacks say ‘stand apart.’

Non hacks say ‘stand above.’

And this is where I imagine articles about advertising should focus their attention on. Why doesn’t the advertising stand above <and not be below what is good & right & untrue>.

Advertising should be smart and not talk down to people but actually enable them to rise up to the occasion … and FEEL like they are rising up to engage with that brand or company.

Communications should be truthful, regardless whether it is simple or complex, and enable people to be able to FEEL truth in such a way that doubts about that brand or company are swept away.

And it all has to be done with an eye toward ‘decommoditizing’ or being distinct in some meaningful way <because truth, in and of itself, is not a differentiator>.

Advertising cannot be dull and uninspired … and you cannot use a small budget as an excuse. In fact … the truth is that a limited budget is typically what drives innovative advertising.

Yup.

Inspired smart creativity tends to make each dollar be more effective <hence you can live with a smaller budget>.

In other words … a smart, insightful, relevant, entertaining ad will be more memorable than a typical ‘category using sacred cow imagery’ ad therefore it needs to be seen less for the same effect.

Oh.

And if you add in ‘truth’ <in a way in which you aren’t just communicating it but people actually BELIEVE it>, your communications is more memorable, more believable, can be seen less for the same effect … and is, of course, of higher value.

By the way … smart means not any obvious photoshopping or any exaggerated ridiculous claims or just plain inaccurate information or anything fluffed up or untrue.

By the way … smart means avoiding stereotypes, typecasting and idiotic generalizations and lies.

Note to advertising people:

We can see through those slimy tactics. Realize consumers are people … people who are smart and informed.

Make me aware of a product.

Educate me.

Relate to me.

Tell me the Truth.

Regardless.

===

“A dull truth will not be looked at. An exciting lie will.

That is what good, sincere people must understand. They must make their truth exciting and new, or their good works will be born dead.”

==

Bill Bernbach

——-

Truth is truth.

Lies are lies.

Responsibility is responsibility.

And if you do not accept your responsibility to tell the truth as excitingly and convincingly as you possibly can … lies will win.

If you choose to vulgarize the society or brutalize it … or even ignore it <all under the guise of ‘understanding what the consumer wants’> … society will lose.

I honestly do not despair when I look at business in today’s world … or even marketing & advertising behavior.

I get aggravated.

No.

I get angry.

I get angry that we are not accepting the responsibility.

I get angry that we are not strong enough to accept the burden.

I get angry that many do not even presume the responsibility is within their purview.

Business, whether you like it or not, shapes society. Business, whether you like it or not, shapes truth.

What we do matters.

Selling stuff doesn’t matter.

It only matters as a means to an end. What really matters is the shaping of attitudes <which ultimately shapes behavior>.

Far too often by simply focusing on ‘selling stuff’ the byproduct of our ignoring the larger responsibility is that we brutalizing society in some form or fashion – in this case and in this time and place … it would be truth we are brutalizing.

Am I suggesting that selling stuff or being profitable isn’t important? Of course not. All I am suggesting is that HOW you sell stuff and be profitable matters. And that you have a responsibility in HOW you do what you do.

Because HOW you do things impacts society. It shapes society. It can vulgarize or brutalize … or invigorate or instill good.

HOW you do things has a power way beyond simply you or what you do in that moment.

HOW you do things is a pebble dropping into a pond.

In the end.

I will not argue that all advertising is good.

I will not argue that all professional communications is good.

A lot of it is shit.

But I will argue that good communications & advertising people, not hacks, are smart and tend to create smart insightful educating communication pieces that avoid the trite and stereotyping imagery and focus on telling the truth, if not A real truth, rather than lie or some semi truth.

I would also argue that good communications & advertising people, not hacks, have the opportunity to save truth in today’s society.

Anyway.

I think many of the world’s institutions are embattled but the one that concerns me the most is Truth.

The institution of truth is under siege.

I can honestly say I don’t think most who are attacking truth are trying to facilitate its downfall … most are simply unclear what is truth and what is not. I believe anyone in any position of influence should be proactively assuming the burdensome responsibility of telling and protecting truth <that will come at an expense> but today … I think the professional communications industry should be at the forefront of the battle.

Why?

They get paid to communicate. If they cannot figure out how to effectively communicate truth, who can?

They must … must make their truth exciting and new, or their good works will be born dead. Uhm. And lies will win.

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About the author:

I am a 50something who believes my generation hollowed out Truth by simplistically suggesting truth was best told through simplicity.

Truth is neither simple nor hollow.

I have had one framed picture in my office since maybe 2000: Seek Truth.

All moments matter mostly because you don’t know which ones are more important than others.

Yeah.

Some moments pop up as “whoa, pay attention to this one, this is gonna matter” but most truly important moments slip by seamlessly in the never ending inevitable moments of what we call Life and responsibility and either they add up to a slow curving in direction or, in hindsight, what was little was big.

This can be a tiring belief or understanding.

“I mean, what the hell, I gotta pay attention EVERY moment ??!!???”

Geez.

That sucks.

But that is where Springsteen made me think.

“You can change a Life in 3 minutes.”

Uhm.

And he plays 2 ½ hour concerts. That is 50 3 minute opportunities to change a Life. What happens if he takes off the 3 minutes that someone is paying attention to? <by the way … having seen him 2 times in concert he does not take any 3 minutes off>.

And that is my point.

Whether he accepts it or not he is thinking that all moments matter so I gotta treat moments as if the matter. Whether he consciously accepts it or not he assumes some responsibility to put forth the energy to treat all moments as if they matter.

Now.

That can seem like an incredible burden. And incredible pressure on “self.”

But later in the article Springsteen says one thing in the article that just popped out to me that helps me explain this:

“I still have great pride in what I do. I still believe in its power.

I believe in my ability to transfer its power to you.”

Far too often we think about moments as “us” moments. Moments that steer our own Life. Moments that seal some moment in our destiny. Maybe we see this moment as incredibly important to us … and, inevitably, we focus on how these moments will affect us.

Springsteen suggests the opposite.

In that if you pay attention to your own moment and do what you do, and do it to your best with the best intentions, then … well … you transfer the power of you to others <and the moment itself>.

Architect of fate?

Master of your own destiny?

Control the moment?

Living in the now <or the present>?

Shit.

I don’t know and I don’t care what you attach to that thought … but … it is a good thought.

Now.

Some people can certainly affect others more so … for example … a Springsteen can certainly make things stop for a couple of minutes versus someone like me.

But.

Yeah.

You, me, anyone can change lives … your own as well as someone else’s.

And, yes, that demands a couple of attitudinal aspects in your own behalf.

One is that you need to embrace the ‘link’ in time.

For example, Springsteen estimates he has signed some 17,000 copies of the book.

As the author of the article notes … he, surprisingly, enjoys the experience.

“You meet the fans – only for 10 seconds, but you meet them one by one,” he says. “And they have an opportunity: what’s the one thing you always wanted to say over the 40 years of the relationship we’ve had?

I actually found it quite moving. Always enjoyed that part.”

Well.

In order to believe you have power to transfer your best not only to the moment but also to whomever you are interacting with you have to be open to the engagement. I wont call it a ‘dialogue’ with someone … just an investment … an opening of yourself … to embrace whomever and whatever is within the moment. I imagine I am suggesting that you think you are not inserting yourself into the money but rather you are linking into the fabric of whatever exists in that moment. Maybe that sounds too philosophical but the Springsteen example makes it less so.

Attitudinally he sees that something as mundane when viewed simply as an “I” responsibility can be viewed as a way for him to not only energize someone he intersects with but gets energized himself.

That is linking.

That is an attitude.

And that is not choiceful, as in “today I will do this but tomorrow I may not”, but rather a 24/7 attitude to be brought to living Life.

Embrace the link.

One is a belief that you can ‘own’ the moment.

For example, when Springsteen is asked what he means when he says his covenant with his audience <which is his version of having a belief he can own the moment> depends on honesty, he replies without pause, without any errs or urrms, in a single perfect paragraph, that requires not one piece of tidying in the transcription:

“I guess we come out and deliver the straight dope to our crowd as best we can. It’s coming on stage with the idea: OK, well the stakes that are involved this evening are quite high. I don’t know exactly who’s in the crowd. But I know that my life was changed in an instant by something that people thought was purely junk – pop music records. And you can change someone’s life in three minutes with the right song. I still believe that to this day. You can bend the course of their development, what they think is important, of how vital and alive they feel. You can contextualise very, very difficult experiences. Songs are pretty good at that. So all these are the stakes that are laid out on the table when you come out at night. And I still take those stakes seriously after all that time, if not more so now, as the light grows slightly dimmer. I come out believing there’s no tomorrow night, there wasn’t last night, there’s just tonight.

And I have built up the skills to be able to provide, under the right conditions, a certain transcendent evening, hopefully an evening you’ll remember when you go home. Not that you’ll just remember it was a good concert, but you’ll remember the possibilities the evening laid out in front of you, as far as where you could take your life, or how you’re thinking about your friends, or your wife or your girlfriend, or your best pal, or your job, your work, what you want to do with your life.

These are all things, I believe, that music can accommodate and can provide service in. That’s what we try to deliver.”

Many times most of us feel like we are at the mercy of our circumstances. And that in fewer instances we are masters of the circumstances.

Inevitably this translates into focusing on the moments in which we believe, perceive, we can master the circumstances.

I could argue this is a self-fulfilling prophecy.

I could also argue that most of us just suck at recognizing which moments we are masters and which moments we are at the mercy of.

I could also argue that we shouldn’t leave anything to chance and we would be better off if we simply assumed that we were never completely at the mercy of our circumstances and that we can always master at least a portion of every circumstance.

I imagine, in my mind, that this is more about the way you live your life as much as anything. It is more about your overall philosophy <which kind of demands you actually have a philosophy I guess>. It is more about deciding to be decent, fair and … well … good.

I tend to believe that Springsteen always believed his music needed to be authentic in that it always needed to embody his philosophy toward Life.

I could argue that means his songs always carried a little bit of his soul and not just his craft.

I could argue that means if you apply your own philosophy day in and day out, minute in and minute out, even in and event out … well … each moment will carry a little bit of your soul and not just the ‘craft of doing the moment.’

In other words … you are not just doing your best because it is required of you but rather you are doing your best because it is a part of who and what you are.

Yeah.

It is a philosophy.

It is a ‘code of living, I suppose’ <as Springsteen suggests>.

I think this attitude is what makes Springsteen more of an idea <or ideal> then simply a performer or a person. And I cannot imagine why it would be any different for an everyday schmuck like you & I if we were to embrace this attitude <don’t be blinded by the outcome magnitude comparison>.

Look.

I imagine that part of managing moments well in Life is not just about getting older and more experienced but also how you grow up and what you do with that experience.

Some of us learn the lessons fairly well and begin assuming more and more responsibility for more moments and some decide it is too much work and too disappointing <mostly because you don’t always see the fruits of that decision immediately> and therefore you focus solely on ‘the moments that matter.’

Some of us just decide that we are made up of some endless energy which means that no matter where we go, no matter the moment and context, we will always try and add value to the moments <and, inevitably, the lives of those around you>.

In growing up, Springsteen says, “you have to come face to face with a lot of your weaknesses and the things you do poorly, so that you’re able to assess the landscape and find out what are the righteous paths you can travel down, and what are the roads that are just going to lead you to a dead end.”

In that post I said … Maybe I could just suggest avoiding being ‘two/three/four/five faced’ as you attack filling up your Life and just focus on one good face. And maybe try and keep that face facing forward as often as you can.

Well.

The truth is that your one face will come to life in different versions in other’s eyes. You can do everything consistently … you can do your best … shit … you can actually be the best day in and day out … yet … every version of who and what you are will exist somewhere in someone’s memory.

Someone will pick up a picture of you and remember you in a way that you may like; you may dislike, but is actually some version of you.

Well.

How the hell does this happen if you are consistent?

Couple of things to think about.

Most importantly … interesting people are multi faceted. So even if you have ‘one face’ and one direction and one purposeful driven life and one clear soul … it can come to Life in different ways based on the context in which it is asked to interact with Life.

Life pulls out the best and worst of you. And rarely does it do so in solitude … you can pretty much expect a shitload of other people around to see what you do and how you respond.

For some of those people that will be their only memory of you.

For some of those people that will be their most impactful memory of you.

Does that mean it is you? Yes and no.

Yes in that it reflects a fragment of who and what you are.

No in that it most likely is not a particularly good judge of your overall you.

People should never be judged at their worst, or their best, and yet we ll do it day in and day out.

Suffice it to say … there are a shitload of versions of you wandering around out there in people’s memories.

Next.

We change. Yeah. we stay the same at our core but as we interact with people, thoughts and things we morph … hopefully for the better … but change it is.

That I was yesterday, this I am today, and there I will be tomorrow.

You are really the only one who experiences that time transition … everyone else is simply checking in and out.

What does that mean?

Part of the challenge about the whole ‘full but empty’ thing for us is that it isn’t always just about us.

You can feel happy about the way you are but people can see a variety of things which do not even closely resemble how you are feeling.

And most of us are self-aware enough, and observantly aware enough, to recognize any disconnects in real time.

So while being full and not empty is really about maximizing your potential in an overall sense … you also are stuck doing some real time ‘maximizing potential obstacle management.’

When you do this, well, it slows you down from full stuff and only encourages more empty stuff.

In the end.

We all know you have to actively participate in Life because if you do not … well … Life will inevitably pick you to be on the worst dodgeball team, put you in the worst seat in a stadium and in the worst weather when you do not have the right clothes.

Stay true to thineself.

It doesn’t guarantee you shit in Life other than the version of you that you carry with you will look good to you. Not everyone else will like it … and some will love it. but you may as well have one you like.

“The splendor of the rose and the whiteness of the lily do not rob the little violet of it’s scent nor the daisy of its simple charm.

If every tiny flower wanted to be a rose, spring would lose its loveliness.”

―

Thérèse de Lisieux

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Ok.

I cannot think of one person I know who doesn’t think their day is full, their life is seemingly constantly stretched or feels like they do not have enough time to either <1> do what they want to do, or <2> do what they need to do.

I cannot think of one person I know who doesn’t think, at least on occasion, about whether that “full” really equals ‘full’ or if it actually doesn’t feel a little less than full and maybe even a little empty.

This empty or full discussion is one I tend to believe we have over and over and over again … in our own minds.

And, yes, 99% of the time it is in our own heads. Why? Well. Because discussing it with someone else is fraught with peril.

Most of us have clearly faced up to the fact that no one will have any compassion for your full life nor your emptiness.

This is slightly weird because we all talk about being empathetic <I mean … who the hell wants to say they have no compassion or empathy?> and, yet, most everyone is fairly sure their own ‘full/empty’ version is ‘fuller & emptier’ than anyone who would be bitching about theirs. That said … this empty/full discussion is all ours — alone.

Why? The harsh truth is that, in general, compassion and empathy on this topic is fairy difficult in practice.

Especially when it comes into conflict with people’s feelings about hard work, work in general <because ‘hard work’ is in the eyes of the beholder>, doing <what constitutes real ‘doing’ varies by person>, earning things and what someone does or doesn’t deserve. That is a fucking long list of shit to have people in potential conflict over.

All that said … this actually means, whether we like it or not, this discussion is actually one about character & self.

Ok.

Maybe this is more a discussion of “the individual” and deciding who and what you want to be as a person <beyond simply ‘doing’>.

Ok.

Maybe it is more a discussion of “if every flower wanted to be a rose spring would lose its loveliness.”

Ok.

This discussion is difficult <I imagine if it was not then we would never feel full but empty>.

Measuring the individual against “the whole” is almost like breathing. We do it without even thinking.

This doesn’t mean we ignore all the ‘individual’ stuff like personal skills of perseverance, curiosity, optimism and self-control.

But more likely than not somewhere along the way we make a not-entirely-conscious decision to prioritize areas of life … both in personal and business and those in relation to each other. And this decision many times is less about us but rather driven by <a> the daily shit which fills up our days and <2> what society norms suggests ‘full’ looks like.

And as we do it we recognize <albeit painfully> that there is no ‘secret to success and work/life balance. The truth is that everyone just prioritizes how they see fit. And that is when we almost inevitably circle back to society <what a rose looks like> rather than simply just assess and do on our own.

Look.

Full but empty is a personal battle. I will not call this living in the inevitable rat race because I tend to lean toward the thought that everyone has an individual power to make a decision for the individual <and selectively ignoring societal norms and ‘cues’ just is not that difficult>.

And, yet, I recognize that we are constantly ‘trained’ to push for the sake of pushing <under the guise of attaining higher and higher outcomes>. The problem with this ‘training’ is that it encourages us to “fill our lives” with what constitutes a fairly narrow view of success <which also quickly ‘fills’ your Life>.

I personally don’t think most people need to be trained to push themselves. I think most of us are hard-wired this way. In fact … I could argue that pushing yourself is not the problem. I could argue the ‘empty’ is mostly driven by a sense of failure which starts lightly coating <and ultimately suffocating> everything you do … regardless of how objectively successful you are.

=

“Somebody once said we never know what is enough until we know what’s more than enough.”

—

Billie Holiday

=

Society demands a lot of things of us. It sets up some fairly absurd rules and a shitload of damn stupid measurements.

Society is society and I am not smart enough to be able to offer to everyone how to not be full but empty.

But I can suggest a couple of things that could help.

Be consistent.

My gut tells me that at the core of being full but empty is that we chase shit. And by ‘chase shit’ I mean that with the intent to ‘fill up’ we start ‘checking off.’ That’s not really purpose driven nor living a life with a purpose … because it is simply chasing a moving list of things.

Maybe I could just suggest avoiding being ‘two/three/four/five faced’ as you attack filling up your Life and just focus on one good face. And maybe try and keep that face facing forward as often as you can.

Freedom not control.

This is hard. Really hard. We want to control everything in our lives … including people and their actions. But in trying to control we actually tend to limit the freedom we should give Life to expand to its best … for us and those around us.

Healthy productive people don’t like to be constrained by someone else. Why shouldn’t this pertain to ourselves and how we try and fill, or empty, our lives? <answer: it should pertain … and it is not different>.

So.

Just to finish up for today.

For some reason our ‘hallowed ground’ of happiness more often than not ends up in a dead end pursuit. And then we are stopped … and look at ‘full but empty’ footsteps behind us.

Unfortunately, whether we like it or not, life takes some real thinking with an open mind to nt end up at some dead end.

But maybe more importantly it takes the right attitude … if every tiny flower wanted to be a rose, spring would lose its loveliness

What I mean by that is because society and culture has encouraged us to think of ‘full’ as doing and tasks and outcomes … well … that means we all are, in some form or fashion, seeking to be a rose. And truth be told … we are a field of violets, sunflowers, lilies, astirs, and more … as well as roses .. and that is what makes Life look lovely.

And that, to me, is the key to this whole solving ‘full but empty’ thing. Ignore the roses … find out what flower you are and bloom.

“Be the flower that gives its fragrance to even the hand that crushes it. “

—

Imam Ali

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Well.

I, frankly, cannot see how anyone could go through life without any optimism.

Not even a thread of optimism. Without it … well … how could you find the silver lining in anything? It seems like it would be a fairly dismal Life.

Fortunately I do not believe many people are that completely dismal. I actually think the bigger issue is that we sometimes feel suffocated by negativity and perceived ‘badness’ all around us.

It can seemingly crush us. Therefore, how can we give the fragrance despite all that?

I am not an optimist. I am a cynical optimist.

I am not a dreamer. I am a pragmatic dreamer.

I believe in hope … but more a ‘lunch bucket” type hope.

“Lunch bucket”?

Well.

Certainly … hope requires thinking. But thinking far too often remains just that … thinking. And no doing.

Lunch bucket hope is about putting in the work.

Lunch bucket hope is about full dreaming and not hollow promises.

Lunch bucket hope is about the harsh truths and not ignoring all truths <including the harsh ones>.

Lunch bucket hope is about recognizing ‘what is’ can change but ‘what will be’ will not happen magically.

It is about believing that nothing may work … but that everything might work.

It is about understanding that there is no one silver bullet to solve something or to dramatically turn things around … but understanding that if you try 100 different things and each one makes even a little impact that there will be progress <and you get just a bit close to what you hope>.

It is about recognizing that Life is rarely simple cause and effect and more likely a series of complex intertwined events <not chaos>.

It is about seeing that Life is always a work in progress where many times progress is difficult to distinguish from stagnancy.

It is about seeing that change, more often than not, is neither spectacular nor disruptive but rather subtle nudges easily overlooked.

===

“Between the end of that strange summer and the approach of winter, my life went on without change. Each day would dawn without incident and end as it had begun. It rained a lot in September. October had several warm, sweaty days. Aside from the weather, there was hardly anything to distinguish one day from the next.”

The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle

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It is about accepting possibilities are not infinite but finitely exponential.

It is about understanding that pragmatism is a key component to hope … and doesn’t diminish it but rather enhances it.

And, lastly, it is about knowing there is more often than not a silver lining even if you cannot see it.

Look.

When you feel like you are getting crushed the last thing you tend to think about is ‘fragrance.’

The last thing you think about is grace, or empathy, or dignity or … well … optimism or hope.

More often we think about anger, fear, disappointment, blame and pessimism.

I, frankly, cannot see going through life thinking the latter. The former sounds slightly more dignified and certainly more … well … a happier Life.

Don’t misunderstand “be the flower that gives its fragrance to even the hand that crushes it” as some mamby pamby soft thought. It is not. How you fight back is almost as important as fighting back itself. Hope and a little dash of optimism is unequivocally a better way to fight. As I wrote once … if you look at Hope in the eye and say “who are you?” Hope will almost always respond <as it bends close to you> … “I am something better.”

Regardless.

There will always be negativity, anger, disappointment, fear and any other thing trying to keep you from where you want to go and grow. Losing optimism and hope would seem to me that you have quit. That you are defeated. I am certainly not willing to quit and I will do my damndest to insure I am not defeated.

I will fight, and fight hard, all the while seeking to ‘give fragrance’ even to all the negative aspects of Life seeking to crush me.

“There is not a discovery in science, however revolutionary, however sparkling with insight, that does not arise out of what went before.

‘If I have seen further than other men,’ said Isaac Newton, ‘it is because I have stood on the shoulders of giants.”

―

Isaac Asimov

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Ok.

More often than not we talk about the important new ideas and discoveries as “disruption” or “innovative.”

The implication is that this type of important idea, which supposedly will change the world <but, more often than not, is just a nice idea which will make an impact in its own little universe … assuming it doesn’t die a quick death>, is the only type of idea we should pay attention to.

In other words … the implication is … If it’s not disruptive its crap.

Well.

That’s bullshit.

Many, if not most, of the most foundational ‘innovative’ ideas & discoveries the world has ever seen tend to be the most overlooked, unseen to the naked eye, unobtrusive ‘disruptors’ we have ever interacted with.

“IUPAC has now initiated the process of formalizing names and symbols for these elements temporarily named as ununtrium, (Uut or element 113), ununpentium (Uup, element 115), ununseptium (Uus, element 117), and ununoctium (Uuo, element 118).”

New elements can be named after a mythological concept, a mineral, a place or country, a property or a scientist.

The four new elements, all of which are man-made, were discovered by slamming lighter ­nuclei into each other and tracking the following decay of the radioactive superheavy elements.

ABOUT THE PERIODIC TABLE

Dmitri Mendeleev published in 1869 the first widely recognized periodic table. He developed his table to illustrate periodic trends in the properties of the then-known elements. Mendeleev also predicted some properties of then-unknown elements that would be expected to fill gaps in this table. Most of his predictions were proved correct when the elements in question were subsequently discovered. Mendeleev’s periodic table has since been expanded and refined with the discovery or synthesis of further new elements and the development of new theoretical models to explain chemical behavior.

All elements from atomic numbers 1 (hydrogen) to 118 (ununoctium) have been discovered or synthesized, with the most recent additions (elements 113, 115, 117, and 118) being confirmed by the IUPAC on December 30, 2015.[1]

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Look.

This particular element discovery may seem fairly dry or insignificant but apparently they could be considered key discoveries which will ultimately enable future technology innovations.

Anyway.

In my mind … things like the elements are innovations which I like to call ‘portals to discovery.” They are the incredibly small discoveries which enable huge discoveries.

Just think about it.

Sure.

Maybe this discovery itself is not the most useful … maybe it’s not the most disruptive … nor the most innovative <in the traditional sense> and, yet, the smaller ‘whole’ inevitably leads to a larger more ‘life intrusive’ type improvement in our lives.

How do I view this?

As a nonscientist, non-chemist, non-whatever you need to be to actually use an element directly … I honestly could give a rat’s ass if someone has discovered some individual atoms which affects the overall relationship with other atoms it hangs out with.

But I do know … and I know this for sure as I can be sure … out of the process to identify a unique atom … and maybe even now that someone understands the properties of this atom … someone somewhere will have a light bulb go off in their heads and trundle out of the house with some new idea the rest of us haven’t thought of yet.

Yet.

As I type this … even though I most likely knew every element on the periodic table when I was in grade school … I doubt I could name … well … I would guess I could name maybe 75% of the elements <by looking at their signs>.

I would also guess anyone reading this had no frickin’ clue what this crazy enlightened conflict site post today was going to be about when “ununtrium ununpentium ununseptium and ununoctium” popped up.

I would also guess that this is most likely the first time 99% of my readers have thought about an element in decades.

That seems kind of crazy when you really think about it.

Most likely some of the most important things which make up how we live, eat and breathe … and live our lives … and the majority of us don’t know diddleyshit about them.

Why?

I would guess it is because they are too little. I would imagine we view them as too insignificant compared to more seemingly significant glamorized ideas and ‘innovations.’

Why do I guess this?

Most likely because … well … if you go online you will find over 3.2 million articles <in less than one second> on finding joy in the little discoveries in Life.

And while I didn’t read each and every one of them … the ones I did sample didn’t say shit about real discovery.

They were all about paying attention to the little things in Life around you.

Well.

WTF.

If there are over 3.2 million articles on that shit why aren’t they mentioning taking a moment and paying attention to the truly meaningful little things which have an inordinately big impact on everyone’s Life.

And by ‘big impact’ … maybe you should think about it this way … if today’s innovators have been successful … have seen farther than others before … it is because they have stood on the shoulders of giants … well … maybe stood on the shoulders of some element in the periodic table.

Regardless.

Take a moment in the near future.

Click on the link to The Los Alamos National Library interactive elements Table above.

Refresh your memory on the elements you learned about when you were young and maybe become acquainted with the ones which have been discovered since you learned the elements.

If you have a child? Maybe talk about the elements a little bit.

In a world where some seemingly meaningless shit reaches into the headlines on a daily basis … where flashy discovery is defined by new technology and some new widget … some real meaningful shit, like the elements, couldn’t make a headline even if they paid for it.

Give them a moment in your spotlight.

Remind yourself that almost everything that is meaningful in our daily lives stands on the shoulders of some element in the Periodic Table.